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Just bought my first 1000 Postcards!

from Bakersfield, California

posted over 3 years ago

So i pulled the trigger on 1000 postcards from yellowletters. I went with one of their templates. I've downloaded Sharon Vornholt's script and a couple of others and a rehab checklist. My dad and two uncles run a contracting business so they will help with the repair estimates. So I'm ready to go. I want to be good at what I do and not be a "crappy wholesaler." I will also be meeting with a local rehabber soon and hope to partner up and learn some more.

Couple of questions: Phone calls. How are you guys tracking them and how are you handling them? Do you let them all go to voicemail or answer immediately? I'm planning to answer immediately. How are you guys buying without even looking at the house? Should I contact the buyers first or should I lock down the deal first? I'm planning to lockdown the deal first. Any advice is appreciated.

Real Estate Agent from Chicago, IL

replied over 3 years ago

Congrats on pulling the trigger. I'm actually looking into getting into wholesaling myself so I don't have an "experienced" answer for you. But here are some relevant BP articles that I've read recently. They both mention Podio as a good tool for keeping track of leads. Good luck!

from Bakersfield, California

Congrats on pulling the trigger. I'm actually looking into getting into wholesaling myself so I don't have an "experienced" answer for you. But here are some relevant BP articles that I've read recently. They both mention Podio as a good tool for keeping track of leads. Good luck!

Investor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

replied over 3 years ago

definitely read all you can about wholesaling here. Of course there's no substitute for actually doing it. I would NEVER buy (get under contract) a house without seeing it first. You need to accurately estimate repairs, meet the seller, and so on. You want the seller to trust you. Be a friend, be trustworthy, do what you say you're going to do. Honesty is the best when it comes to this.

I'm using Podio. so far so good. I can add my other partners on it so that they can see everything I see. Any one of us can comment or input leads. I would recommend finding the REI lead entry app on Podio's app store. one of the guys on here created it and its simple to use.

Firefighter from Sacramento , California

replied over 3 years ago

congratulations on buying your first post cards. I've been looking at yellow pages and was wondering how it worked. When you order the post cards do you hand write the address for each property? Or is that done on yellow pages?

from Bakersfield, California

congratulations on buying your first post cards. I've been looking at yellow pages and was wondering how it worked. When you order the post cards do you hand write the address for each property? Or is that done on yellow pages?

Its yellowletters actually. They service your marketing plan. You can buy a list to mail to from them or from listsource and they will input that information for you. You just need to edit your postcard and put your contact information and they put the addresses and mail them out.

Firefighter from Sacramento , California

Investor from Santa Rosa, California

replied over 3 years ago

I'm moving towards answering calls live, but when sending calls to vm it's obviously important to return calls asap. If it was all the same I'd probably prefer vm because I like the way their info is cataloged on my phone app.

I used to run over to any decent lead but it's not necessary imo. If the seller is not disclosing something major it will come out during inspection. Some people swear by going to the house though and I'm sure do very well so...

Investor/Realtor from Wentzville, Missouri

Did yellow letters provide you with some sort of lead tracker for your leads? Did they help you with pulling your list or did you do that yourself?

We use Jerry Puckett for our direct mail and he provides a lead tracker through google sheets that is great. We track everything from details of the dialogue, the analysis of the property, disposition of the lead, and much more.

We let the calls go to voicemail and callback right away. I try to have the house pulled up on zillow/google earth/ and MLS so I know everything about it when I call. If they do not leave a message I send them a text and get responses from most of them.

I would also never make an offer on a house without seeing it. Plus this gives you plenty of time face to face to build rapport and value in the repairs needed to lower the purchasing price on the house. Every deal we have done had issues the seller did not know of or talk about. In almost every scenario the seller wants way to much at first, but after you show them what the ARV is, what repairs will cost, holding cost, and other misc. fees will run, they will come around to a realistic price for the property.

Negotiations and building trust takes time. We would rather build a relationship with every seller that ends on good terms regardless of if we buy their home. At the end of the day we are doing this to solve problems for people.

Investor/Realtor from Wentzville, Missouri

In my opinion it really comes down to what your end goal is with your DM campaign and how experienced you are with REI. If you are a beginner marketing to your backyard and just getting started, going to look at the property is a great learning experience. I think it also comes down to what you are looking to accomplish when you get a motivated seller calling you. Are you wanting to wholesale, flip, buy rentals, or wholetail? If you plan on wholesaling there are things you need to know to be a reputable honest wholesaler.

It is important to have all the numbers ironed out (rehab cost, holding cost, etc.) so that the buyer that you assign the contract to know what they are buying and will want to work with you again. Reputation is huge in this business. This information is best acquired by visiting the property. If you are a beginner it would be best to bring a contractor with you to gauge repair estimate. Same with buying a property to flip.

Most deals we have closed on, the seller was not realistic with their property value or repairs needed when we first spoke and needed to be educated before we had a chance to close the deal. After visiting the property, building rapport and trust, we were able to negotiate a win/win situation.

from Bakersfield, California

@Russell Ponce I'm assuming you no longer go and see the houses. Who does your inspections? Your contractor? Partner? Or an employee of yours. Also, are you using podio or something different?

@Ryan Billingsley Thanks for the info. Yellow letters provided everything but a way to track. They were great. My goal is to wholesale these properties and eventually scale up to flipping.

@Michael Quarles Thanks again for chiming in. I've listened to your podcasts on buy fix flip sell and I'm really impressed with your negotiation skills. My question is how are you wholesaling these properties so quick? Are you selling them on the MLS or to another investor at a reduced price or full retail?

from Bakersfield, California

Full retail at AS IS value via the MLS... Everything gets an appraisal and BPO so we are certain of value

I listened to your podcast in which you explained the difference between wholesaling and wholetailing. I'd rather wholetale and sell as is, but I don't know if I could afford the holding costs. Is it possible that I could find a private or hard money lender and sell on the mls quickly? How long do your properties sit on the market?